A process of this type and device are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,039 and in JP-A-600-49919. These processes of the state of the art permit automated moulding (blow moulding or vacuum molding), filling, and sealing of vessels in a cost-effective manner. If highly sensitive products are produced, ones such as pharmaceuticals for which the international standards relating to aseptic packaging are to be met, the mould, when moved into the filling position, is positioned beneath a so-called sterile filling space (ASR). In the ASR, sterile air flows over the open fill opening of the containers and creates effective protection against entry of germs, until movable top jaws are closed after completion of the filling process in order to form the desired top seal of the container by a combined vacuum-bonding process.
While the fill opening is effectively protected in the respective state-of-the-art processes and devices when this opening in the filling position by the sterile filling space, the uncovered fill opening is not fully protected during displacement of the mould from the extrusion position, in which the tube formed is severed below the extruder nozzle to form the fill opening, even if the process is conducted in a clean room. The tube having the fill opening is open at the top during movement of the mold into the filling position.
JP-A-4147824 discloses covering the fill opening of the tube during movement of the mould into the filling position by a heatable cylinder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,545 discloses mounting an infrared heater above the fill opening in order to reduce the number of germs. However, even in these instances, the fill opening is exposed, at least for a brief period, during change in the individual production positions. Thus, the danger exists that the interior of a container could be contaminated by germs or other particles.